TROY -- City officials have abandoned plans to preserve an historic railroad tunnel under the Congress-Ferry Street corridor due to concerns over worker safety as construction begins to break down the tunnel and fill it with a concrete-like substance.

City Engineer Russ Reeves, along with his department, project consultants Creighton Manning Engineering and the state Historic Preservation Office made the determination a few weeks ago against using a structural Styrofoam fill, which would require application by hand, after an inspection found that, due to the structural integrity of the tunnel, it would be unsafe to send in workers and equipment.

"There were large voided areas in the top of the tunnel, and portions of the tunnel had become deformed over the years from traffic," said Reeves. He added that the arch of the tunnel was beginning to buckle inward near the bottom, and that vibrating equipment could have caused further structural damage.

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Instead, workers are using equipment to break down the top of the tunnel, which will then be covered with a cementitious flowable fill. Reeves said they do not plan to remove the rubble created by the tunnel destruction before pouring in the fill.

Doug Mackey, an archeologist with the state Historic Preservation Office, said there was also a concern that the Styrofoam fill would not have been strong enough to support the new road and traffic. He added that the office had previously documented the interior by lowering a video camera into the tunnel and have collected drawings, and said the sides of the tunnel will be preserved as the rubble and concrete pack down.

Area historian Don Rittner feels that destroying the tunnel is a "terrible idea." According to Rittner, Troy was the first municipality in the United States to own a railroad, and that the tunnel, properly preserved, could have been a tourist draw for the area.

"Filling it with cement is not what I call preserving it," Rittner said. "This was an opportunity to do something creative, and the city took the easy way out."

Mackey defended the loss of the historic tunnel, saying: "Our job is to try and balance what we lose with what we are able to preserve. We save what we can, but we can't save everything."

The process of filling the tunnel will take approximately two weeks. Reeves said that all utilities and roadwork for the project should be completed by fall of this year with the first building development beginning in August.

"Work is progressing well," said Reeves, who added that the state Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration also consulted on the project.

Reeves said while this method of filling the tunnel is cheaper, cost was not a factor in the determination, and extra funds from the project will be returned to the state. There were no railway cars, engines or parts found in the tunnel, only dirt and concrete debris.